Conveyer bucket for elevators and the like



Aug. 15, 1939 E B. l. WELLER CONVEYER BUCKET FOR ELEVATORS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 24, 1938 fifa arzec ys f7??? f0)" if Z/eZ/er i JUNlTED I STATES Patented Aug. 15, 1939 PATENT forele CONVEYER BUCKET FOR. ELEVATORS AND- I THE LIKE Burt I. Weller, Highland, Ind.

Application August 24, 1938, Serial No. 226,406

5 Claims. (01. 198152) My-invention relates to improvements in conveyerbuckets or cups for elevators and the like and has for one object .to provide a'new and improved form of cup which is especially adaptable for handling light, soft, or sticky material. Other objects will appear from time to time in the specification and claims.

Experience has taught that especially when conveying such materials'as fiour and the like while it is easy enough to fill the bucket, the material tends 'topack' in the bucket and being light and. soft, the: air pressure resists bucket or cup unloading. If the bucket takes the form of a flat plate with open ends the unloading trouble disappears but the bucket is of too small capacity. I propose, therefore, to provide a bucket having closed ends but to provide air ports or apertures in the ends of the buckets adjacent the bucket wall and the rear portion of the floor of'the bucket so that as unloading starts the bucket going over the head'pulley, air can enter beneath a portion of the contents of the bucket, break the vacuum and permit free bucket discharge.

Experience teaches that it is highly important to have the major portion of the end of the bucket closed by a closed end and that if only a small part of the end area immediately adjacent the back wall and floor of the bucket is open for air passage that is sufiicient to permit proper discharge.

My experience has also taught that the shape of the floor of the bucket, the shape of the bucket end and the shape of the air aperature are important and further that if the floor of the bucket and a portion of the back wall of the bucket is cut away or reduced in width adjacent theair opening, satisfactory air admission for unloading is obtained and the bucket when filled holds substantially the same amount of material as if the ends, floor and back wall were not cut away. 7

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing,

wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the upper end of an elevator leg showing parts in elevation;

Figure 2 is a perspective of one of the buckets;

Figure 3 is a rear view of the bucket itself removed from the belt;

Figure 4 is a section along the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the bucket.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawing.

l. is the up spout; 2 the down spout of an elevator leg. '3 is the head pulley in the leg adapted to be driven by any suitable means not here shown. 4 is the conveyer belt traveling over and driven by the head pulley. 5 is the discharge casing and 20 the discharge chute. The belt 4 is preferably of rubber or canvas or other suitable material, is' endless and continuous.- It is guided at its lower end and fed at its lower end and the conveyeris supplied with material at its lower endin the usual way forming no part of my present invention and so not here specifically illustrated.

The buckets are fastened to the belt 4, by means of two or more'fastening members such as bolts' fi, which pass through holes I, in the back wall of the bucket and through the belt, These rivets are preferably spaced with respect to each bucket on a line perpendicular to the axis of the belt so that as the belt travels around the pulley the bucketitselfoffers no opposition to the bending of the'belt. I I Y -The bucket comprises the back'wall 8, a floor 9, at right angles to the back wall and extending forwardly approximately half the projection of the bucket. Thereafter, the fioor bends upwardly as indicated at H], on ordinarily an increasing curvature and under some circumstances terminates in a narrow area ll tangent to the curve at the point where that area commences. The bucket has two end walls l2. These end walls engage the back wall of the bucket from the top of the bucket down to a point approximately as far down as one half of the total height of the bucket. These end walls engage the floor of the bucket from the outer lip inwardly along the curved portion but the engagement terminates along a line spaced further from the back wall of the bucket than the outer extremity of the perpendicular floor. Thereafter the end is formed about a curve I 3, which may be a true circle or may be a spiral or varying curve formed about varying radii. However it is formed the relationship between the curvature bounding the lower edge of the end wall and the bucket back and floor is such that the air port formed in the end of the bucket commences at the forward end of the bucket as at M with a very thin aperture increasing inwardly to a maximum where it comes closest to the intersection of the floor and back wall and then decreasing to the wall of the bucket, thus for more than half of the floor area of the bucket, there is an air space between the wall and the floor.

At a point adjacent the lower point 01' contact between the back wall 8 and the end wall l2, and extending around the back wall and the floor to a point adjacent the point at which the floor curves upwardly, the back wall and the floor of the bucket are cut away or reduced in width as indicated at I5. This arrangement is especially clearly shown in Figure 3, the cut away portion of the floor terminating at l6, as shown in Figure 2. The result of all this change in shape of floor and back wall and the varying width of the air passage formed through the end of the bucket is to permit free access of the air to the bucket beneath the major part of the burden thereof along the floor and back wall thereof so that as the bucket whips around the head pulley and commences to discharge its load, the air is free to rush in from the end and thus the load need not be discharged against a vacuum.

Such an arrangement as this is of the utmost importance especially in connection with the handling of flour and the like because flour is soft and light but being very fine offers resistance to air passage, thus unless the air can get in below the load of the bucket, it may go clear around the pulley, and the load will be held in by air pressure.

I claim:

1. An elevator bucket having a back wall, a fioor and end pieces joining them, the end pieces being each apertured adjacent the intersection of the floor and the back wall, the aperture being bounded at its back by the back wall, at its bottom by the floor, and at its top by a convex curve whose radius of curvature decreases from the front to the back of the bucket.

2. An elevator bucket having a back wall, a floor and end pieces joining them, the end. pieces being each apertured adjacent the intersection of the floor and the back wall, the aperture being bounded at its back by the back wall, at its bottom by the floor, and at its top by a convex curve whose radius of curvature decreases from the front to the back of the bucket, the floof of the bucket curving upwardly from a point in front of half the forward extension of the bucket.

3. An elevator bucket having a back wall, a floor and end pieces joining them, the end pieces being each apertured adjacent the intersection of the floor and the back wall, the aperture being bounded at its back by the back wall, at its bottom by the floor, and at its top by a convex curve whose radius, of curvature decreases from the front to the back of the bucket, the floor of the bucket curving upwardly from a point in front of half the forward extension of the bucket, the curvature of the floor being defined by a progressively decreasing radius forwardly from the commencement of the curve.

4. An elevator bucket having a back wall, a floor and end walls, the end walls being apertured adjacent the intersection of the floor and back wall, the floor and back wall adjacent said aperture being progressively reduced in width toward the point of intersection of the floor and the back wall, the reduction in width of the floor commencing at a point intermediate the front and back boundaries of the aperture, the outer edge of the bucket floor being upwardly curved forward of the point where the reduction in Width of the floor commences.

5. An elevator bucket having a back wall, a floor and end walls, the end walls being apertured adjacent the intersection of the floor and back wall, the floor and back wall adjacent said aperture being progressively reduced in width toward the point of intersection of the floor and the back wall, the reduction of the back wall commencing at the upper limit of the aperture, the reduction in width of the floor commencing at a point intermediate the front and back boundaries of the aperture, the outer portion of the bucket floor being upwardly curved forward of the point where the reduction in width of the floor commences.

BURT I. WELLER. 

